to the platform. coast guard helicopters also en route. rescue teams a part of this as well. we are being told the fire at this point now is being fought and also at this point we're told that there is no oil leaking into the water, although in my earlier interview there was quite a bit of assessment that would need to be done clearly before that can be determined 100%. before anybody could assess that was happening. i know we are trying to get an interview together right now with the medical center in new orleans that may be receiving some of these people who were on board or were on the platform, but i'm not sure we can get that arranged for you at this point. i'm going to hand over not only this story, but the other breaking stories to my colleague suzanne malveaux, who is standing by. she'll be able to update this story throughout the next hour. thanks for joining us, everyone.

welcome to newsroom international. we're taking you around the world in 60 minutes. we're beginning with breaking news. an explosion on an oil platform in the gulf of mexico just set off a major fire. two workers are now missing. want to bring in chad myers with the latest on what we know about this. any details? >> literally things just coming in here. it was a production platform. it was not a drilling rig. it was in shallow water. it was not deep water. they were not drilling. there was not a blowout. this is not take two, okay? >> this is not like we saw in 2010. >> this is not an environmental disaster according to the coast guard that's out there right now. this is not what we saw when it took ray year to cap that oil from coming into the gulf of mexico, but six were injured. two possibly killed from this explosion. it was considered to be a production problem. production and drilling completely different. production means it's railroad

working. they don't even believe there was any oil coming out because of the construction that was going on in that. >> and what would it take, actually, to assess some of those because one of the problems was before you had that leaking that was going on, it was a mile underneath the surface, and people did have i sense of what was taking place until much, much later. is this the kind of thing that you can assess right away what they're dealing with? >> right away within 12 hours. >> we couldn't get down to the base of the old well because it was thousands of feet down. you can't put a diver down there. with this being in shallow water, less than 500 feet, and probably much less than that, we can can assess that much, much quicker. by tonight they'll know what's going on. right now they're saying no oil in the water. we're worried about the men and women in the platform and they're worried about the disaster at this point in time because the coast guard is out there trying to find two of the big -- >> i want to bring in -- this is tazzman alfonso. this is a spokeswoman for the west jefferson medical center. can you hear me? >> yes, can i hear you.

barely. >> i understand there are some that we know are injured. can you tell us about that? >> i'm sorry. didn't hear you. >> has anybody been injured from this -- >> i can tell you that we have a total of four injured here at west jefferson medical center. all four are in critical condition. we got the first three at 9:55 a.m., and the fourth one at 10:10 a.m. this morning. they were all helicoptered in. >> what is the nature of their injuries? can you describe it for us? >> because of law, i cannot detail their injuries, but i can tell you as soon as they are stabilized, that they will be transported through the baton rouge burn center. >> are these serious in nature? >> it is critical condition. that is what i can say stit.

we are having critical care nurses transported with the patients via ambulance to the baton rouge burn center. they are going to be intube ated and drip on their trip there to make sure that they are properly cared for before they get to the burn center in baton rouge. >> is there any indication that might be getting additional patients brought in? >> there is a possibility that we may get one or two, but that hasment been confirmed. >> we'll get back to you as soon as you have more information about the state of those patients and whether or not there are more injuries on their way. this platform, which seems to be some sort of incident of fire that occurred there. we'll have more, and we'll be following this breaking news story throughout the next two hours. turning now to the middle east. despite a very brief cease-fire, rockets are flying back and forth between gaza and israel. the death toll is now rising.

>> hamas's rockets are reaching farther into israel than ever before. israel says they didn't cause much damage. palestinian officials say rockets from israel have killed 24 palestinians and wounded 200 in the past two days. three died yesterday from rocket fire. egypt dispatched its prime minister to gaza to show support for the palestinian people and hamas today. he met with hamas's prime minister about the casualties on the ground. he visited a hospital, showed emotion over the death of a 1-year-old boy. he also read a verse from the koran and later egypt's president mohammed morsi gave a fiery speech in support of the palestinian people on state tv. listen. >> we support the people of

gaza. what hurts them, hurts us. >> hate and violence between the israelis and palestinians was sparked by this. israel's assassination of hamas's military chief on wednesday. an assassination that israel called necessary because of increased rocket attacks from gaza into israel the last several weeks. our senior international correspondent ben wiederman has been covering the middle east. you've been covering it for decades now. when you see israel moving hundreds of troops to the border of israel and gaza and saying it's going to call up 16,000 more reservists, what does that sound like they're preparing for? >> certainly would case that they're preparing for a ground invasion of gaza. in fact, this is very similar to what happened in the 2008, 2009 fight between hamas and israel. israel for the first few days pounded targets around gaza, and then sent in the troops. certainly, i mean, if you

listen, for instance, to what ehud barack, the israeli defense minister told cnn yesterday, he essentially said that we want to put an end once and for all to the firing of missiles from gaza into israel, and there's no other way to do that logically than to go in and not only smash hamas's military capabilities, but to smash it as an organization, and, frankly, that's a fairly tall order. that's what they tried to do in 2008, 2009. it didn't really work. in fact, hamas was only more entrenched in power in gaza after that, so i think we're looking ahead to some very difficult days certainly for the people of gaza and for the people of southern israel. >> let's -- more than 400 rockets have been fired into israel from gaza since this operation began, and you have the iron dome defense system intercepting at least a quarter of them. away do you make of the

capabilities of both sides? >> certainly it's completely out of balance. i mean, israel is by far the most powerful military power m middle east compared to hamas, which, you know, can only man -- sort of field a few thousand men. they do have these rockets, but obviously they don't have any airplanes or tanks or mying. it's a fairly uneven fight, but the problem is, of course, politically it has come at a high cost for israel, particularly when there's a high civilian casualty. so far the civilian deaths on the palestinian side have been compared to 2008, 2009 relatively small. you remember in that 20-day war around 1,500 palestinians were killed. so far 48 hours into this fight only around 25 palestinians have been killed, but if they go in with ground troops that could

change much for the worse, suzanne. >> ben, looking at me. watching closely. egypt's newly elected mohamed morsi is a tight spot. he needs to show hamas support because they have roots in the muslim brotherhood, a group morsi once led in ewript, and he also wants the respect of the peace treaty that stands between israel. he doesn't want to lose western support. >> he was elected on april groundswell of passion. part of that passion being anti-mubarak, who the egyptian people saw as abandoning the palestinians back in 2008, 2009. he is the man who has to stand up to the palestinians and hold the ambassador to egypt to israel and so he is trying to look up, but he can't be too tough, though, because if this peace treaty is strengthened, the west steps in with their billions of dollars in aid that they give to egypt every year.

their economy stinks at the moment, and they need that money to survive. you know, it's another reason why egypt and i think all the players there don't want this to go that far. >> can they count on egypt's support? >> it would be a big deal if it escalated in a tanning i object sense. i don't know about supplying weaponry or something like that. i cannot see that happening. egypt needs western money. european and importantly, united states money just to survive economically. the sense is i don't think any of these people want to go to a ground war. israel has an election in two months. they don't want dead soldiers. netanyahu doesn't want dead soldiers. egypt can't afford for things to go south for them as well. i get the feeling that everyone is waiting for a truce to come out to be brought up probably in egypt, and everyone can say they both won and go back to the highly unsatisfactory status

quo. >> let's listen to one egyptian official what they believe could be a peace treaty. >> respecting the peace treaty does not mean they're indifferent what is going on along our borders, and what is touching our -- we cannot be indifferent to human suffering. so we are abiding by our obligations, but we are active to help establish real peace in the area. >> what do you make of that? >> we were saying before, there is a need for this truce to come out. i think there's probably being one worked on right now. i'm sure that i was talking to tony blair, the british prime minister, an envoy to the region. they're running hot. they're trying to get a truce together. things can go south very quickly, and it doesn't take much. if one of these missiles lands

in a sensitive place in jerusalem, lands on an apartment building in televeef, then it could be ground invasion time. at the moment as long as they keep it to a dull roar as we like to say in australia, i think that there's a chance that -- i don't think they want -- >> what is the role of the united states playing here? we already know the defense secretary leon panetta weighed in with his counterpart saying, look, you know, be careful that you're not going to have civilians, mass casualties here? do you think that they played an effective role? do they have leverage? >> do they have much leverage? they have a little bit of leverage with israel, and we were chat about this, and when it comes to settlements and the rest the israeli leadership has ignored. in this situation i think they are listening. i think that they're trying to get cooler heads to prevail. same as there's pressure being put by egypt on hamas. it's not looking good. >> all right. mike, thank you. appreciate it. >> this is a big story. we're going to be following it

coming up in about 20 minutes. we'll be talking about this with former middle east envoy senator george mitchell. former cia director david petraeus has testified on capitol hill about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. one republican says there is a discrepancy on a count given by pet whys in the count initially given by the white house. uld seu a picture. floor to ceiling bookshelves... floor to ceiling bookshelves... original windows... original windows... and this... is that a... fireplace face -- yes, yes it is. fireplace shaped like a face. i know right! [ male announcer ] only at&t's network lets you talk and surf at the same time on your iphone 5. rethink possible.

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members of congress have been demand it for days. this morning they got a detail of the u.s. consulate attack in benghazi. the man who was the head of the cia at the time, david petd petraeus. he testified behind closed doors to both the house and senate intelligence committees. dana bash was there as lawmakers were leaving this meeting. she's joining us from capitol hill, and, dana, there's been a lot of outrage about these conflicting intelligence reports on this attack. was there anything that petraeus said today to kind of clear up some of the confusion.

>> it seemed that he certainly tried. when we're talking about confusion, it's whether or not the intelligence community gave appropriate or enough information, maybe emphasis is the right word, on what turns out to be more of the case, which is there are extremist elements that are behind the attack on the consulate in benghazi, much more than a protest which doesn't even appear to have existed. that was what petraeus came in here to try to clear up, but the republicans and democrats are coming out, and republicans for the most part who were talking said that they didn't think that petraeus's recollection of his initial briefing here was exactly the way he thought, and democrats said, no, it's fine. it's exactly what he thought. he came in, and he said that it could be extremism -- extremist elements. it could be these protests, and we're not just going to find out for a little while, and this -- today he was coming to give an update. one other thing that has been very controversial coming out of these briefings, whether or not susan rice, the u.n. ambassador -- the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., had the

proper information or was correct in what she said publicly about the attack being probably at that point four days after the attack because of a demonstration. democrats are really to a person coming to her defense aggressively and trying to explain why there was a discrepancy. listen to kent conrad of the democratic member of the senate health care community. >> what is very clear is that ambassador rice used the talking points that the intelligence committee had all signed off on. that is very, very clear. she used the unclassified talking points that were signed off on by the entire intelligence community, so criticisms of her are completely unwarranted. that is very clear. >> and susan, dianne feinstein,

just moments ago actually took out and read the unclassified talking points that susan rice used on that day, and they were very short. it sounds like there were two, maybe three points in the talking points, and it was almost certain to change. even dianne feinstein doesn't like to get political on these, and she was aggressive in her defense saying she's being unfairly hillary'ed. >> who did she get the talking points from? did she get it from general petraeus, and, secondly, is there some sort of suggestion that perhaps they gave the talking points, but they still had other intelligence that was clear it of as terrorist attack? >> the suggestion, it seems to be that the difference here in what they're trying to -- the picture they're trying to paint is there's a difference between unclassified talking points, what they can talk about in public, and classified talking points, what at the time still they didn't feel comfortable

talking about in public for whatever reason. that is the difference that they're painting. where she got the talking points, unclear if it's from petraeus. i can tell thaw the director of national intelligence clapper was here also for a separate briefing in a room right behind me, and he also showed and talked about the talking points. they're definitely trying to clear this up inside the intelligence community. >> right quickly here, any questions about this affair with this biographer of paula broadwell and the circumstances around him stepping down? >> in the fest meeting he was asked right at the beginning by the intelligence chairman whether or not his resignation had anything to do with benghazi, that he wanted to clear that up, and general petraeus said definitively no, they had nothing to do with one another. we just heard from the senate that the intelligence chairwoman that he has virtually said the same thing, and nothing else was asked about his affair or his resignation.

>> dana, thank you. appreciate it. now that lawmakers have heard from the former cia director david petraeus, we're going to break it down and see what it means. retired general james spider marks joins us after the break. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business.

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lawmakers aren't just hearing information about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. they are also now seeing it. house and senate intelligence committee members were shown footage of the attack taken by surveillance cameras and a drone. retired army general cnn contributor james spider marks joining us from washington. first of all, lawmakers say they watch this video. they saw the attack from beginning to end, and it even included shots of the ambassador being dragged out from this building here. hard to watch. why didn't this intelligence actually help with the initial response and a potential rescue mission? >> suzanne, you are really

getting a tactical view of what occurred, and i don't think there was any debate in any of the discussions over the course of the last two months that this was brutal, that this was very targeted. the issue became what motivated this to occur, and, again, from the outset, i don't think anybody argued that the type of weapon systems that were involved in this attack were pretty sophisticated, so, again, how did this occur? what were the motivations for it. >> what was it the consulate knew about, their surroundings, so they were prepared for these kind of eventualities, who would take the appropriate risk? every time you deploy, any time an ambassador goes anywhere, and you have americans on the ground in foreign countries, there are levels of risk, and you assess

those risks, and this obviously wasn't done well. >> we've heard that petraeus has two different lines, two different storylines about the attack. in one way they blame this terrorist organization and say it's a terrorist attack, but they also say there was evidence or intelligence that perhaps was linked to the protests for the anti- -- against this anti-muslim film. is it possible when you are collecting intelligence that you have two strains, if you will, and this is not necessarily something that is meant to be misleading, but that there really are two different stories and possibly they believe in both at the same time? >> suzanne, in intelligence fundamentally you have to subscribe to the notion of a contrarian view. you have to have competing intelligence. in fact, it's very dangerous if everybody in a formation, everybody in an intelligence organization comes down on the same answer and says that's it. you have to have somebody that walks in and says, you know, i think this has some fault to it. let's challenge this assumption. we've got a piece of intelligence here that doesn't

seem to square with something else, so the fact that there are competing views is absolutely healthy. what needs tobacco knowledged is that intelligence -- in intelligence it's okay to say i don't know. in this case we came down as an administration very hard on an assessment. that was not the right thing to do when there were some other contrarian views still floating around that had not been reconciled. >> so there was a public -- not a classified version, but a public version of what the u.n. ambassador susan rice was supposed to say, what she was allowed to say, these talking points that were given to her by intelligence officials. was that appropriate, even though it might have been inaccurate information? >> i think we need to -- stopped defending david petraeus from feeling sorry for him and stop attacking susan rice. ambassador rice was on message from the administration. i mean, she didn't make this stuff up. she was given talking points.

she was told this is what occurred. the real question of my mind is why was she a messenger on all those shows if she was not intimate with the details or involved m process by which those would be revealed. so this really is about confidence in character. is our intelligence community correct in this and intelligence is a chaotic and very and precise art and science, and it's a matter of character. i hope people who are telling the truth. >> spider marks, thank you. appreciate it. air raid sirens, rocket attacks, saemtd cease-fire as well. the situation in the middle east seems to be deteriorating by the hour, and you have a live report from jerusalem. consider the silverado 1500 -- still the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickups on the road. and now we've also been recognized for lowest total cost of ownership -- based on important things, like depreciation, fuel, and maintenance costs. and now trade up to get a 2012 chevy silverado all-star edition with a total value of $9,000.

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exclusively at a sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. fighting between israel and gaza despite a short cease-fire earlier today. rockets from gaza landed near israel's most populated cities just an hour ago. fred, first of all, these rockets, we see that they are

reaching as far as north -- never before this northern in israel. what kind of damage are they doing, and what is the concern on the ground, the community, the response? >> the damage is not too big. it keeps the population in these places in fear, and the big thing today really was that targeting of jerusalem. there's never been a rocket actually shot at jerusalem since the 1970s, and i can tell you from actually having been here and speaking to people afterwards that we could hear the sirens go off and then a few seconds later there was a thump. now, the rocket hit south of jerusalem near a settlement there, and apparently hit an open field and didn't do any damage, but the people i have been seek speaking to since then say they're terrified of what's been going on. if you look around the area around gaza, the folks there are actually quite used to rockets coming down there. they have sort of a routine to deal with that, but people here absolutely not used to and say they're terrified about it, and it certainly is something that

also is an escalation of this conflict rather than deescalation. things appear to be ramping up. it doesn't seem as though either side is taking its foot off the gas in all this, suzanne. >> there seems to be some effort from the international community to try to intervene here. you have the u.n. chief ban ki moon going to the region next week. have you the european union, high representatives saying, look, you know, encouraging israel to be proportionate in how it's dealing with these militant groups in gaza. do the people there -- do they believe that that's important as the world -- that the world must intervene in order to get voluntarily of the situation? certainly people we speak to on both sides of the equation -- i was right next to gaza, and it's taken a lot of rockets. people say they don't want war, and they don't want a wider conflict. however, they also don't want to have rockets raining down on

them constantly. right now it seems as though both parties are still very much seeking the military option, if you will. people hope not just from organizations like the united nations, but also possibly even egypt could play a role in this, as you said. today the egyptian prime minister was in gaza. there was a short cease-fire. that really didn't hold even during the time that he was there. people are hoping that in the coming days possibly negotiations could bring these two sides a little closer together, but until then, both sides are saying that they are willing to sustain and expand their campaign. the israelis saying they're willing to conduct more air strikes, and more importantly, they are willing to enter gaza with ground troops, suzanne. >> all right, fred. i want to bring in somebody who is highly apt and been on the frontlines of middle east peace efforts. george mitchell, the former u.s. special envoy to the middle east. back in 2000, 2001 you served as chair of the international fact finding committee on violence in the middle east, and the

findings from that committee really became widely known as the mitchell report. first and foremost, when you take a look at what is taking place on the ground there, does this look like to you potentially all-out war? >> i'm sorry, suzanne. i just had a bad connection. would you repeat just the last part of the question, please? >> sure. i'm wondering do you think when you see this situation on the ground, the number of rockets fired, where this is taking place. does this look like this is potentially turning into a war? >> yes, it does. and it's more dangerous than ever before. just think of the facts that didn't exist the last time things erupted in 2003 to a broad degree, and that now includes syria in turmoil, really in a deep civil war, egypt having had the revolution

and change of government. jordan. there was, of course, the conflict in gaza in 2008, and the daenk now if it is, it could be spread. not just to israelis and palestinians, but if you had a conflict that spread throughout the region, it could be hugely destabilizing and costly to everyone involved. >> i think the president is on the right course. it's trying to use all the allies to encourage both parties to step back from an escalation of the conflict. that's very difficult. israel has the right to defend itself against the barrage of rockets that have accelerated dramatically in recent days and no doubt will do so wanting to deter such action in the future.

the problem is if this escalates that, could have devastating consequences for all concerned, so it's a tension there trying to accomplish one objective without having it reverse and cause greater damage in the future. >> talk about the role of the arab spring here, because obviously, you have a different egypt, a different leadership in egypt that is aligned with the muslim brotherhood. we have seen egyptian officials who have gone to the area very recently to express support for hamas, so what does the united states need to do? what does the obama administration need to do in order to coral all these different players who are completely different than the kinds of players who you dealt with just a couple of years ago? >> you have accurately described one of the major changes in the region that have occurred since the last outbreak of violence,

and not only are the israelis and hamas trying to balance competing tensions, but so also are others and most especially the egyptians. now, the government there, of course, was elected. it's a muslim brotherhood group which is directly alied with hamas. at the same time egypt is in a very uncertain situation. this economy has badly set back as a consequence of the events of the past year and a half. they are trying to build their way back, and they want to have continued assistance. they want to have continued good relations. add to the fact that from israel's standpoint, they very much want their agreement with egypt and with jordan to remain in force, so a lot of -- a lot of tensions are competing and conflicting in the region for everyone. i hope very much and i am certain that the president and the united states government are trying hard to persuade the egyptian government to use its influence with hamas to get them

to stand down and prevent this from escalating further. >> what would it take to get this conflict, to de-escalate this conflict, to stand down, to back up from a potential all-out war? what do you think? >> well, of course, what's happened in the past is when the damage gets so great, one side or the other, pulls back and stops, or whether the possibility of a much wider conflict emerges, people tend to stop. i think the problem is you just keep the cycle going unless you address the root causes, and that is getting the parties in to negotiations to try to resolve the underlying conflict. >> all right. george mitchell, thank you very much, as always. >> thank you, suzanne. >> expert analysis. thank you. he survived an attack in iraq, lost his legs, ran a veterans program, and then started in a hollywood blockbuster. meet army colonel gregory gatsen who has a new challenge. our veterans focus next. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles

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>> colonel gregory gadsen has played many roles. he has run the army's wounded warrior program and has started in "battleship." now he is taking on his biggest role to date, commanding an army post. his inspiring story is today's veterans in focus. >> may 7th of 2007. my vehicle struck by a roadside bomb in baghdad, iraq. i remember the explosion very clearly. it's something i'll never forget, and ultimately over the next two weeks i would lose my legs above the knee. well, when came home, of course,

wounded, that was -- that was a new experience for me. i had never come home without my troops. i really felt alone. i did say absolutely enough is enough. not that i fwot to a point where i felt like i was going to take my life or anything like that, but i just didn't want to be a burden to anyone. i just wanted to just kind of crawl in my hole and collapse on myself. i'm very grateful, thank god, that i didn't do that. for me when i tried to quit and i tried to crawl through that shell, it was very uncomfortable because that wasn't who i was. i'm the garrison commander of fort bellmawr, virginia. we support a base including about 51,000 personnel. we're going to add the -- we're going to lose -- right? >> all of our services appreciate the value that someone has regardless of what they don't have anymore. this event that happened to me doesn't define me.

it's not something i dwell on. i wouldn't characterize myself as a hero. i mean, ultimately those that really pay in fullmer are heroes. i just say if you know a veteran out there, then just tell them thank you, and their family. i never get tired of hearing it. [ male announcer ] are you considering a new medicare plan? then you may be looking for help in choosing the right plan for your needs. so don't wait. call now. whatever your health coverage needs, unitedhealthcare can help you find the right plan. open enrollment to choose your medicare coverage

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back and forth between israeli. the death toll rising, 24 on r dead. joining us from the west bank, she's a former palestinian liberation organization legal advisor. thank you for being with us. first of all, what is your understanding of what is taking place in gaza now? >> my understand issing that the bombing -- israel's bombing continues, and that. >> do you know how many palestinians have been killed in this conflict? >> well, just in the past few days alone we are looking at over 22 civilians, many of them children. just the other day an 11-month-old was killed, and a pregnant woman was just killed as well. the problem with this type of campaign is that it doesn't distinguish it's to end rule

over the palestinians and allow them to live in freedom. why israel persists remains a mystery to me and many others as well. >> i want to read a statement here. we've just got this statement. this is from the israeli military, and they describe the situation very differently. they say they're going to operate until the michigan has been completed. they also say that hamas has turned the gaza strip into what they're calling a frontal base for the iranians to directly target israeli civilians? >> this has always been the israeli claim, and obviously there is no evidence to this whatsoever. what israel wants to do is deflect from its own actions and somehow blame it on somebody else. the truth of the matter is organizations have come forward and have said to israel that it has got to stop its control over the gaza strip. it has to cease its occupation

and kolonization of the west bank as well. every country around the world has said this. >> do you deny that the rockets coming from gaza that are going into israel close to jerusalem, do you deny that there have been dozens of rockets that the israelis have reported dozens of rockets? our reporters have seen these dozens of rockets that have come from gaza strip into the civilian neighborhoods in israel close to jerusalem and even tel aviv? >> oh, i certainly don't deny them at all. that's not the issue. the problem is how do we move forward? how do we get this to stop, and the way that we get this to stop is to recognize that there is an imbalance of power, and he worked to try to make sure that israel -- israel ceases its occupation. a simple cease-fire is not going to work at this stage. we need to be looking beyond a simple cease-fire into a long-term solution and the only long-term solution is one that is mn to all, which is israel needs to allow the palestinians to live in the freedom and

dignity that is their right, that is the right of every person around the world? >> we're going to have to leave it there. thank you very much. we appreciate it. we're going to check back in with you to see how things are going there. the conflict, of course, between israel and gaza also taking on another dimension as the fighting continues. both sides are on the offensive, and they're taking their tabbs now to a different arena. we're going to explain up next. if you think running a restaurant is hard, try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney... a desktop in zurich... and a telepresence room in brazil. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers

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rockets reply between israel and gaza. a parallel war is raging between the two sides. it's a war of words unfolding on the internet. pica shubert tracks it on-line. >> the war is also fought on-line. a battle for public opinion. israeli forces versus hamas. both using the internet to get their messages out. at the exact moment israeli defense forces began hitting

their targets in gaza, they sent out this tweet. the idf has begun a widespread campaign on terror sites and operatives in the gaza strip. moments later they posted video of the deadly air strike that killed the head of hamas's military wing. hamas's brigade was quick to respond with its own tweet, confirming the death of its top leader. the war of words had begun. >> well, the israeli defense forces are alive tweeting about their actions use aing few hash tags, but most notably _#pillar of defense. the hamas brigade has come up with their own. gaza under attack. both sides have been issuing threats on-line. just take a look at what the idf put out. a rather dry statement saying we recommend that no hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders show their faces above ground in the days ahead. not to be outdone, the brigades responded directly to idf

spokespersons saying our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are. you have opened the gates of hell on yourselves. there you have it. the war of words on-line. >> for every strike, it seems, there is a corresponding tweet or video post with links and graphics. a war of information battling for hearts and minds on-line. no less critical than winning the war on the ground. >> protesters are back in the streets of jordan today. >> they are angry over rising gas prices. some are even calling for king abdullah to step down. according to one report, they chanted the slogan of arab spring. the people want the downfall of the regime. no deaths or injuries were reported in today's demonstration. in japan there's going to be a general election next month that's expected to unseat prime minister yoshio.

this after prime minister dissolved to the lower house parliament today. he caved under pressure from the opposition liberal democratic party. the democratic party has been in power for over three years. i'm a conservative investor.

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welcome back. i'm suzanne malveaux. the israeli -- rockets flying back and forth between gaza and israel and the death stole is now rising. >> the rockets are reaching -- two have fallen south of jerusalem despite israel's sophisticated anti-aircraft

capabilities. palestinian officials say that rockets from israel have killed 24 palestinians and wounded 200 in the past two days. three died yesterday from rocket fire. no new deaths today. a missile was sent to destroy a car, killing the head of the hamas defense department. jill, first of all, we've heard the u.n. asking for restrantd from both sides, but you've got both of them, and we just talked to a representative, a former legal aadvisor to the plo saying, look, it's not their fault. it's the other person's fault, it's the other side's fault. how do you intervene and fwet this to actually stop? >> that's the dilemma. i mean, i think the united states -- the only answer that really would be to try to get the countries that have influence with hamas to put pressure, so urge hem to stop.

the president of the united states has been talking with the president of israel and egypt. there was concern that something -- they obviously support the palestinians ms, but at the same time a senior cabinet official said that the peace treaty is not in jeopardy, so there are delicate relationships here, but they need to try to get some type of pressure on hamas to stop. the u.s. at the same time has, you know, been urging israel to be careful, minimize civilian deaths, if possible, but also says that the -- that israel has a right to defend itself. >> i want to read this from the u.s. ambassador of the u.n., susan rice, what they she said during a security council meeting. she said president obama told benjamin netanyahu that he

understands israel's right to self-defense in light of countless rocket attacks on israeli civilians being launched from gaza. the president urged that prime minister netanyahu make every effort to avoid civilian casualties. do we think this administration has were leverage in making sure that happens? >> i mean, the israelis really feel that they have gone too far. they simply could not hold back from defending themselves because of the hundreds of attacks. trying to stop that, trying to tell israel not to defend itself is really impossible, but that said, the danger of this, of course escalation and all-out war is really very high. that's why this administration is trying to, you know, urge both sides to stop. it's obviously not being very successful. >> you know, tony blair has put

a lot of political capital in this trying to come up with a peace agreement for the middle east. he spoke about this recently, what he sees is happening. i want to play a little bit for you. >> the single thing that's most important straight away is to try and calm the situation to de-escalate it, and that means that the rockets have got to stop coming out of gaza and then the israeli military action cease and then we can try and find our way forward. >> so, jill, i mean, how many players are involved now? how many people are stepping up and trying to make sure that this doesn't escalate? i mean, is there a sense of faith here that they can pull back a little bit? >> well, on many different sides. certainly here at the state department, at the white house, other countries are certainly doing what they can. there was a call from the united nations from ban ki moon for everyone to do what they can do. probably the best thing is exactly what tony blair was saying there, which would be to have a cease-fire, to at least stop the killing, and then

hopefully try to have some type of resolution. >> it's have i difficult. >> the search and rescue mission is going on right now in the -- there is a fire which is now, we understand, it's been put out. coast guard officials say there are two workers, however, who are missing, and this rig belongs to the -- producing both oil and natural gas. i want to bring in chad myers to talk about what is taking place. we did talk to a hospital official in the last hour or so. they said they had four patients that were brought in. they were going to be transferred to a facility to treat burn patients. what does that say to you about the expense of what has taken place on that rig? >> that was the west jefferson hospital we talked to. we now know that there are 11 people that have been medivaced to four separate hospitals.

that's just coming off right now from a press conference that i just literally just left. there were 11 350e78 medevaced. nine people were actually transported to other plaid forms and other places away that were not injured. the two missing that were reported two missing, two dead from the coast guard. that's the same. those two people are the two missing, so officially not too two dead yet. still the two missing would be the back and forth from those two reports. we're going to see four area hospitals. now we're going to talk to them. the burn union sit there. everybody is worried about how much oil is in the water. this is not an oil situation. this is a human situation. this is people being burned, people being injured by this platform. the coast guard saying that the most that this could have spilled into the gulf of mexico is 26 gallons of oil. that's all that was in the pipe. they were cutting a pipe. it was construction, maintenance crew. they cut the wrong pipe or cut into a pipe with a welding torch or something that caused a spark. the spark lit the oil.

the oil caused the blast. >> do we have any idea how big this explosion was? >> no, we don't. >> do we know if it was mrult martin luther king reply explosions or one? >> we believe there was just one because they were cutting into one pipe. >> how close is this to the land, to the beam there? >> it's about 20 miles to grand isle, maybe a little less to venice, but you are still basically in the gulf of mexico. you're a couple of miles away. they said that the coast guard took 45 minutes for the first coast guard facility to get there. the commercial helicopter yawn its got to the rig originally, and the helipad was intankt, and the commercial helicopters went in there and guided the hospital and got the people out, and they flew them to other places. it was pretty immediate. that search and rescue still happening now, but the immediate si because there's so much activity in that part of the gulf of mexico, there was just minutes from when it exploded when there was help. >> all right, chad. thanks for the details. obviously going to be keeping track of this story as it develops. thank you, chad. >> here's what we're working on for this hour.

president obama promises the country the country will stand by new york after it rebuild after superstorm sandy. >> we are going to be here until the rebuilding is complete. >> but the recovery has just become. an exclusive look at the flood damage that crippled one new york hospital. and warning. we are heading toward a fiscal cliff. should congress and the president let the country fall off the cliff and agree to a tax hike, or create a bridge and extend the current tax breaks? what you're saying. plus, a political divide. more than 100 years ago the new movie "lincoln's" take on the battle over slavery. "lincoln" actress gloria ruben joins us live. this is cmn newsroom, and it's happening now. chilean granite... chilean granite... so, how's it in person? i should send you a picture. floor to ceiling bookshelves... floor to ceiling bookshelves... original windows... original windows... and this... is that a... fireplace face -- yes, yes it is.

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the fiscal cliff that could mean higher tacks for awful us. president obama trying to avoid the fiscal cliff. he will be meeting with leaders of civic groups. earlier he sat down with congressional leaders in a closed-door meeting they described as constructive. we are following the benghazi hearings on capitol hill as well. the testimony by former cia director david petraeus, republican congressman peter king said petraeus tried to explain how information about the deadly attack in libya came together. >> he said it was a long process involving many agencies, including the department of justice, the state department, and no one knows yet exactly who came up with the final version of the talking points, other than to say the original talking points from the cia were different from the ones that were finally put out. >> he says petraeus also told lawmakers the affair that led to his resignation from the cia had no affect on his testimony. well, that affair pretty much the elephant in the room. daena bash is joining us now from capitol hill. dana, first of all, did that

come up at all? >> we're told it did briefly in both the house and the senate at briefings today. the very beginning, at least on the house side. the chairman kind of got it out there, pointed to the elephant in the room, if you will, and said we just want to make sure that what happened in benghazi had nothing to do with the resignation, and we're told that general petraeus said that's correct and that he expressed regret for what happened, and that was it. they moved on. i have to tell you, you see these pictures here? that's about as close as we think we came to seeing general petraeus today. a picture of his car leaving today. i don't think i've ever seen -- eve covered the hill for many years, and i don't think i've ever seen the kind of protection that lawmakers and the administrators here, lawmakers gave the former cia director, a civilian, in order to come here and voluntarily testify. >> why do you think, dana? >> you know well, asked that question of dianne feinstein,

and they said, look, i know you're ankled about this, but she said she made a decision, along with others, to give him that protection because he was voluntarily coming and talking about what happened in benghazi even though clearly this is a very tough personal time for him, and she said it if you're going to want to get upset, blame me, she said, but it's really extraordinary, suzanne, have i to tell, so that's sort of the circus, if you will, that was going on around here, but, of course, behind the scenes, there were real important issues talked about, and one of the key questions has been whether or not susan rice had proper talking points with petraeus or whether she freelanced. she said she was okay. she's being politicized and the republicans saying not so much. listen. >> i think mistakes get made to

select ambassador rice because she used an unclassified talking point to say she's unqualified to be interview state, i think, is a mistake. the way it keeps going, it's almost as if the attempt is to assassinate her character. >> the problem with what susan rice said was not that what she -- if she is stuck with the talking points, were they correct. they were. she went beyond that. she even mentioned that under the leadership of barack obama, we had decimated al qaeda. she knew at that point in time that al qaeda was very likely responsible, in part or in whole, for the death of ambassador stevens. >> so, suzanne, at the end of the day it seems to be a difference between what they knew on a classified level and what they knew unclassified. in fact, these are the unlassfied taking points. he talked last hour about the fact that dianne feinstein read

from them. these are they, and there are only three of them, and it's pretty generic, but it does explicitly say that there were demonstrations inspired by protests that led to the direct assault, and there's one line that says there are indications extremists participated in the violent demonstrations, but nothing on the other side that we now know that an extremist group was very much involved. >> we'll see if that satisfies the critics. thank you, dana. appreciate it. new york city and new jersey, jersey shore, crippled by superstorm sandy. homes destroyed. power outages. hospitals evacuated. >> so if we were standing here while this place is filling up, the water would come up to our necks? >> probably your head and come up to my neck. >> an exclusive look at one hospital evacuated during superstorm sandy. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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zimplt here on the help desk we're talking about commodities. with me this hour greg olson and -- greg, here's your question. >> i had a question about commodities, and i was wonder if anything there would be good returns in the next six to 12 months. >> gold, you know, is all the rage. let's start with gold. >> well, interesting. let's start with gold because gold actually hassen an opportunity to increase over time if we see a lot more stimulus from the fed trying to keep the economy afloat. the problem is i see a lot of problems happening in europe right now, which might slow the world economy overall, which has a negative effect on things such as raw materials and industrial metals, but also things like oil, that -- the price of oil could flare up if we see deterioration of the situation in the middle east hurting supply. it really depends on what moderatety we're talking about based on where the price -- >> should vefrz really look at commodities or do something safer? >> this is too short-term for me. six to 12 months in commodities. it's a real risk.

we cannot see that in the future. i would recommend commodities as an alternative investment, but long-term if are you looking short-term, go with something a little less risky. >> good advice, thanks. if you have an issue, you want our experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video with your help desk skwe to i report.com. evacuation of babies from nyu's langon medical center during superstorm sandy captured the world's attention. it's now given cnn camera az first look inside this ruined hospital. elizabeth cohen reports. >> after the rain fell and the river overflowed into nyulangone medical center, this is what was left. a hospital ruined by more than ten million gallons of floodwater. now two weeks later richard cohen is my guide to see the damage. >> we're in the cellar right now. >> we're in the cellar. we're at the lowest portion of the building. >> down here the filthy river water went up to the ceiling.

it's been pumped out, but it's still smelling bad, so we have to wear masks. >> this was an mri sweep. four mri's down here. unfortunately, they were all flooded. >> oh, my god. how expensive is that machine? >> it's probably several million dollars. >> and kaput? >> this is kaput. >> the water continued rising up to the first floor. this lecture hall became a swimming pool. >> so if we were standing here while this place of filling up, the water would come up to our necks? >> probably your head and come up to my neck. >> i would be under water? >> almost. >> ken langone, chairman of the board, was there that night as a patient. >> i was on the 11th floor. >> how did you get down? >> i walked. >> you were recovering from nooum? >> they woke me up and said we're evacuating. i said fine. i brushed my teeth. put my clothes on. i said let's go. >> 322 patients were evacuated.

now this once busy emergency room is empty. >> this place took a hell of a hit. >> nyulangone has brought in -- hot air in these tubes is drying out the ceilings, floors, and walls. clean-up is 24-7 expected to cost around $700 million. >> people's lives were saved in this room, and now it sits idol. how does it feel like to you? >> i can't wait for it to start saving lives again. >> that was elizabeth cohen, the chairman of medical center says he hopes those rooms that you saw that are idol will be up and running in about four weeks or so. tension along the israeli-gaza border intensifying now. there are talks this air assault could turn into a ground war. will israel's neighbors get dragged now into the conflict? [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again.

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the reality of looming tax hikes may be hitting home for most americans. an overwhelming majoritied thinks it's important to avoid the fiscal cliff. the combination of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes 49% say it's extremely important to avoid the fiscal cliff. now, 33% say it's very important. our maggie lake has been talking to folks about whether or not lawmakers can solve this problem. are most people confident, maggie? >> you know, they're not really, suzanne. i think you can't blame them really. we heard some encouraging words, but that's far from ink aing deal. we're stand big a winter ice

sculpture. the mood when it comes to congress, when you talk to people, very frosty. in a pew survey this week, just over half the people were skeptical that congress and president obama were going to be able to come to a deal. it doesn't mean they're not holding out some hope, but once we found out they were out talking to people, they want action. have a listen. >> i think people are putting pressure behind them. i mean, their votes put them in, so votes can take them out. >> the election is over. everyone has to work together now. you know, i think people were digging in their heels and not compromising. >> congress is supposed to do what the people want them to do, and apparently this is the congress is running wild. it's stupid. >> i have huge faith in mr. obama. i think he can be persuasive, and i think congress should listen.

>> talking about feeling the pressure, suzanne, it could be that republicans feel that a little bit more of that same survey found that 59% of people would blame republicans if they're not able to reach a deal compared to 29%, which would place the blame on president obama. >> all right. thank you, maggie. appreciate it. now to white house correspondent briana keiller. briana is talking about the four congressional leaders who were called to the meeting to the white house, calling it constructive. so, briana, that's a word that they use all the time. it doesn't really reveal very much. do we think there was any movement at all, any willingness to work together? >> i think so. maybe they do use that word a lot or they say productive, but i saw something today at the white house that i'm not sure that i have ever seen before, and that is the four of them standing together at a mai microphone trying to inspire some confidence that they're going to move forward with this and do so not in a way that really takes it to the edge. you heard from leader reid. he said we're not going to wait

until the last day in december. leader pelosi said before christmas that she wants to inspire confidence in the markets and in consumers, so listen to what all four of them said. some pretty positive notes they were sounding. >> we had a very constructive meeting with the president. he talked about america's fiscal problems. >> something has to be done. >> it was good. i feel confident that a solution may be in sight. >> we're prepared to put revenue on the table, provided we fix the real problem. >> and the real problem, as mitch mcconnell sees it, the senate minority leader sees it, suzanne, is spending. he said, you know, but his folks still believe that this is a spending problem and overspending problem and not an under taxing problem. we heard from speaker john boehner. he said that revenue is on the table. the issue here is that president obama has said he wants to

increase tax rates on wealthy americans. the speaker and house republicans are still not on board with increasing tax rates, although perhaps closing some loopholes to raise some revenue, and even though there's a lot of kind of kumbaya going on here, suzanne, there's still a lot of tough work that needs to be done. they're still maybe punting on some of the important issues like tax reform and entitlement reform, but they'll be dealing with the fiscal cliff here in the near term. >> it's probably difficult to tell, but we see these pictures, and it's very common, right? you get about 30 seconds to see them all in a room together. they're patting each other on the back, smiling, and shaking hands, that kind of thick. do we have any sense of whether or not there were any different kind of tone or language when they were meeting behind closed doors that gives us a sense that maybe this is real? >> you know, i think, oh, to be a fly on the wall, and it's a tightly controlled situation, obviously, where they all put out their statements, which are very carefully choreographed. the white house doing that as

well. it seems like at least from that the tone was positive. jay carney put out a statement that said in part both sides agree that while there may be differences in our preferred approaches, we will continue a constructive process to find a solution and come to a conclusion as soon as possible. i don't think there was acrimoney here. i think the president wished speaker boehner happy birthday, which i believe is tomorrow. there really falling all over themselves to have this really positive message, but also there's an acknowledgment here that we have some really tough stuff to get through, and that they're going to have to work through that. i will fell you, we heard from them that they're going to be working through the thanksgiving recesses. you know president obama leaves for asia tomorrow, and the white house says that, you know, even though he is gone, he is going to have his top aides in touch with members of congress. >> you know what that means, briana, we'll be all working through thanksgiving. >> yep. >> thanks. >> thanks, suzanne. >> sure. the tension along the israeli-gaza border is intensifying. could this air assault lead to

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>> hundreds of rockets are flying in gaza. the death toll from two days of fighting going up. palestinian officials say 24 people were killed in gaza. hamas said that the israeli air force struck its interior ministry leaving behind fiery rubble where a building once stood. so you hear that. sirens going off as hamas reach close to two of israel's most populated cities. we're talking about jerusalem and tel aviv. nick peyton-wall is joining us from beirut. egypt's president mohammed al morsi gave a speech many support of the palestinian people on state tv earlier today. here's how he put it. >> translator: we support the people of gaza.

we are with them in their trenches. what hurts them, hurts us. and the blood that flows from their children is our blood too. >> so despite the rhetoric, morsi says he also stands by the longstanding peace agreement between israel and egypt. he sent his prime minister to gaza earlier today to show support for the palestinian people. behind the scenes, what is going on? what is happening? do they feel they have support, the kind of support they need? are they scared? are they frightened? >> i think he sent the prime minister to gauze wra today, and that's deeply symbolic of their bid to try and show great support. remember, hamas are born of the muslim brotherhood, the same party, the same group that is now in power in egypt. president mohammed morsi belongs to. that was the first visit by an egyptian official since the brutal clashes that happened in 2007. that was a deeply symbolic gesture. what else can they do is the question now. as you point out, there's been a

33-year-old peace pact with the israelis and with egypt perhaps mr. morsi will be loathe to push the eswriptian military any way to break that at all, and, of course, on top of that president morsi has to bear in mind significant aid packages from the west and from the imf, which he needs badly so his country's heavily damaged economy can begin to recover. many issues, he certainly faces there, but, of course, he must tread that fine line between the international role egypt must maintain and the stability and, of course, keeping popular opinion inside egypt satisfied. many expecting egypt to perhaps come to a greater level of assistance for hamas at this point, suzanne. >> just minutes ago we saw the authority, the president of mahmoud abbas saying they are denying palestinians the right to establish an independent state, taking a really hard line there. you also say the israeli military putting out this statement an hour ago saying they're going to operate so the mission has been complete and that hamas has now turned the gaza strip into a base for the iranians to directly target

israeli civilians. you could not have a more different picture from these two sides. the idf is saying that they believe iranian is a -- there are many different schools of thought. some say there's a link between hamas and iran that's fractured because of the hamas's refusal to support them during the civil war. >> thank you very much. president obama won the popular vote on election day, but in king county, texas, only 3% of the county voted for obama. >> if you could tell barack obama to do one thing, what would you tell him? >> to resign. >> what is up with king county, texas? [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare,

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don't agree with anything he done. >> it's a sentiment that was also common here during president obama's first run for president. here in rural king county, texas, only 4.9% of voters chose obama in 2008. in 2012 it's even lower. the lowest for any county in the country. >> if you could tell barack obama to do one thing, what would you tell him? >> to resign. >> what advice would you give for a second term? >> retire. >> king county is not only the home to barack obama's lowest vote percentage, it's also the county where he received the lowest total number of votes. nationwide the president tallied more than 62 million votes, but here in this county he received five votes. that's right. just five votes. king county's population is small, but mitt romney winning 139-5 made this the president's worst showing in the u.s.

he went to the girls basketball game at guthrie high school in the county seat to ask mitt romney voters why there was such distaste with barack obama's presidency. >> i thought he sounded more like a dictator than a president. >> we went to the local baptist church to a monthly women's club meeting and heard similar sentiments. >> he just blames it on bush. well, it's the last administration. it's want his fault. well, now it is his fault. >> in 2009 just after president obama was inaugurated, we also spent time in king county, and we met charlotte macaulay who told us -- >> i just asked god that he would help him truly connect with him so that he would know what god's heart was for the united states of america. >> and this is charlotte today at the women's club meeting. >> you told us four years ago that you hoped the lord would help barack obama. >> yes. >> do you think that happened? >> it doesn't appear so. >> and then there was something --

>> all right. that's very interesting, the whole aspect of that. very fascinating story. have they ever given a democrat a chance there in terms of voting in support, or is this something that is specific to president obama? >> well, this is really interesting. in king county even today there are more registered democrats than republicans, but a democrat in rural texas is a lot different than a democrat in new york, los angeles, chicago, or even dallas, houston, or san antonio. back in 1968, back in 1968, hubert humphrey won the presidential vote in king county. george wallace came in second place, and back in 1964 when texas residents swron son ran for president, he got 85% of the voting since barry goldwater. they have voted for democrats before. it's certainly not this time or four year ago. >> so you talked to a lot of the people, and they don't really seem to be looking forward in temz of giving him another shot. is that your sense of talking to

these folks that they're simply resigned or resentful in. >> i guess the best thing is these are nice hard-working people that live in king county, texas, but they're not giving any ground it comes to barack obama. we don't like him, but we'll see. this time there didn't seem to be any flexibility at all. snoo talk a bit about some of the communities. i know philadelphia and some other areas where it went overwhelmingly for obama. it was a completely different story. >> this is interesting. even in king county people say why are you here doing this story. doing a story in philadelphia barack obama and some precincts got 100% of the vote. it's true. in some inner city precincts in cleveland too he got 100% of the vote. there were mostly african-american voters, and the fact is nationally barack obama got 93% of the african-american vote, so it's not statistically impossible in some urban centers african-american precincts that he would get 100% of the vote. that's not statistically possible. >> all right. we have a coalition of women, young voters, and many other groups as well.

gary, thank you. fascinating story. appreciate it. it is a nation that is divided by politics. it's not just today. we're talking about what it looked like 150 years ago. that's right. a look at a new movie "lincoln" with actress gloria ruben. one.

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a nation divided by politics, we're not talking about today. but it could apply. more than 150 years ago, the battle over slavery that ended in a bloody civil war. steven spielberg brings the story to the big screen this weekend with his new movie "lincoln." the film is based on the book by historian doris concekearns goo. gloria reuben is joining us from new york. great to see you. can hardly wait to see the movie, it has gotten rave reviews already, osccar buzz, i hear. tell us a little bit about your character, the woman that you

play. >> well, first of all, thanks for having me. it is an extraordinary movie. i can't wait for you to see it. elizabeth keckley was born into slavery. her biological father was her master. at the age of 14 she was given away's wedding gift to the oldest legitimate so and how oftentimes they would keep the slave families integrated with the legitimate family. she over the years garnered the gift of -- and became very talented in the art of dress-making and design and her late 30s she was in st. louis at the time, and she had a very long list of clientele, politicians' wives and high society women she bought her own freedom, her and her sons' own freedom. her son goes to university in ohio, elizabeth moves to washington, d.c., opens up her business there, and shortly thereafter meets mary todd lincoln. and becomes mary todd's personal

dressmaker, and confidante and best friend through the four years of the lincoln administration after a few years afterwards. >> we're looking at the photos there of you in the traditional dress and then the real life pictures of her in the resemblance is uncanny. explain to us, it really is an amazing story, an amazing role you play. you wrote an essay about this for the book, written for the movie and you talk a little bit about your own personal experiences and things that you've overcome in your childhood that you can relate to this character. can you share with us? >> yes, you know there are some obviously i can't even begin to imagine the physical difficulties and the abuse and the beatings, et cetera, that elizabeth went through. i have no idea what that's like. but emotionally i found some parallels with her immediately. a childhood ending very quickly, my father died when i was young. being kind of a second family so to speak, my family was married

prior to marrying my mother and he had children with his first wife, before she passed, his first wife passed. and we were never as far as i remember never really embraced by the first family, so to speak. i moved out on my own when i was not even 17 and, you know, elizabeth, elizabeth and i, if i may, she completely created her own life. she was highly independent. and fiercely kind of committed to creating a life that she wanted to create for herself and for her son, of course. really brave. and really just ready and willing to kind of break any boundaries that may have been in front of her. and so, you know, i think there is a part of me that can definitely relate to those things. >> tell us a little bit about the parallels. people have been looking at the movie, the clips from the movie and look at today, a divided country, see a divided country back then and people make parallels between president obama and lincoln. do you think those are accurate? did you see anything in the movie and actually being a part

of this movie that rang true that is present and current today? >> i think a couple of things about this. first of all, yes, president obama and president lincoln both extraordinary leaders first and foremost. the timing of the film i find really kind of more than serendipitous. steven wanted to make this film, started about maybe eight or ten years ago he started talking about it. obviously nobody had any idea at that time that president obama would become president in 2008, but the parallels for me, the deeper kind of, again, serendipitous thing are the issues of a country, yes, being politically divided and a time like we hadn't really -- of course it always divided, but not as intense as it has been or had been over the last four years, politically, racially, no question. we can -- i think it is important for us to acknowledge certain things that have been repetitive and how we can hopefully move forward with that, and the timing of it being released just as president obama

was re-elected, i think, again, is really kind of and i don't use this term lightly, really kind of divine timing. i think the lessons are here through this beautiful magical mode of film-making for us to take the fundamental issues of this film, see how they relate to our country and today and maybe we can move past. that's my hope. >> okay. that's all of our hope. certainly. we will look for your film. we certainly will anticipate enjoying it. thank you very much. congratulations on that role. >> thank you very much. >> sure. former cia director david petraeus all tied up in scandal. well, stephen colbert calling it a soap opera. he'll have all the characters up next. in pieces all over the dis. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters.

[ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well. a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afib-related stroke. there is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. no routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes.

new zealand! xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. and with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options,

call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ the sex scandal, several serious investigations, but late night tv hosts finding a funny side to the drama. this is comedy central's stephen

colbert. >> it is like a steamy episode of "general's hospital." these days, these days, folks, i spend my afternoons, you know, plopped on the couch, in the house coat, watching cnn with a virginia slim in one hand and a box of after eights in the other. i don't care if the news goes straight to my hips, it is me time. this story has got everything. a decorated war hero who is now america's spy master has an affair with his own sexy biographer who thinks the spy master is stepping out on her with a second girlfriend, so she sends an e-mail from a secret account saying step off or i will cut you, and the second hotty freaks out and contacts her friend, fbi agent, who launches an investigation, but gets pulled off the case because he sexed her a shirtless photo. meanwhile, the spy master's protege also a